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AGONY OF THE FLESH AND ECSTASY OF THE SPIRIT
Speech by Mr. B. N. Narasimha Murthy
on May 6, 2011 (Easwaramma Day) in Sai Kulwant Hall
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The 6th of May every year is a day when Sai devotees across the globe pay their homage to the Divine Mother Easwaramma – the Blessed Soul who was chosen by the Divine to play the role of Mother of His physical form. Bhagawan Baba once declared, "I resolved on My birth. I decided who should be My Mother!"
Often in His discourses Swami has mentioned how the Divine Mother was in fact the inspiration behind all the mammoth Sai service projects be it the Super Specialty Hospitals, the Drinking Water Projects or the University. In the memory of this Exalted Soul who merged with Swami on this day almost four decades ago every year Sai devotees mark May 6 with several service and spiritual initiatives.
On the morning of this day Bhagawan Baba always visited the sacred Samadhi of the Mother and adorned her Samadhi with flowers and new clothes. And inevitably there was always a huge Narayana Seva (offering of food and clothes to thousands of our brothers and sisters) organized that day whether Swami was in Puttaparthi, Brindavan or Kodaikanal.
This year too the day was observed in the same spirit. On the morning of May 6, 2011 distinguished elders of Sai family paid their homage at the Samadhi of the Divine Mother, and later there was a massive Narayana Seva organized in the spacious Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium. Students and staff of Swami’s University served the needy the whole morning of May 6.
In the evening there was a special meeting in the Sai Kulwant Hall and three eminent speakers addressed the gathering. The second was Mr. B. N. Narasimha Murthy who was introduced to the audience by Prof. Anil Kumar. We present below the introduction followed by the transcript of Mr. B. N. Narasimha Murthy’s talk.
The author of the fifth, sixth and seventh volumes of Sathyam Shivam Sundaram, the biography of Bhagawan Baba, Mr. B. N. Narasimha Murthy came to Baba as a teenager of 18 years. Since then, inspired by His mission and touched by His Love, he frequently returned to Baba’s presence and was fortunate to be physically guided and groomed by Him to play an important role in His education mission.
He was the warden of the Prasanthi Nilayam campus of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning for a couple of years before Bhagawan sent him to the Brindavan campus where he served as the warden for 23 years. After having lived with Bhagawan for nearly five decades, currently he is the warden of the newly inaugurated Muddanahalli campus and is actively involved in nurturing this fledging campus.
Presented below is the transcript of his talk delivered on the occasion of Eswaramma Day on May 6, 2011 in the divine precincts of Sai Kulwant Hall in Prasanthi Nilayam.
I offer my humble pranams (salutations) at the lotus feet of our most beloved Divine Master Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Respected elders, dear brothers and sisters, Sai Ram to all of you.
Sathchidananda Roopam Adhvaitham
Sarva Bhootha Dayanidhim
Easwaramba Sutham Vandhe
Paripoorna Prema Vigraham
I salute the Divine Son of Mother Easwaramma,
who is the perfect embodiment of selfless love;
A wonderful treasure house of
compassion for all beings;
The very personification of Truth,
Awareness and Bliss
The One who is ever established in the
experience of the unity of all existence.
If there was a moment in the history of the world when hundreds of men and women felt orphaned simultaneously, it was in Tretha Yuga when Lord Sri Ramachandra offered His body to River Sarayu and returned to His Divine abode.
If there was an event in the history of the world when thousands of men and women felt orphaned together, it was in Dwapara Yuga when Lord Sri Krishna cast off His physical frame and ascended to His Divine glory.
The Most Poignant Moment in the History of Mankind
If there was a moment in the history of mankind when millions of people felt orphaned simultaneously, it was during our own times, precisely on April 24, 2011 when our beloved Divine Master Bhagawan Baba shed His mortal coil and chose to remain and revel in His Divine Consciousness.
When I stand here to speak for the first time in a different situation, I remember the words of John, the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ. When he was asked to speak of Jesus many years after his Master’s ascension to heaven, he said, “You would love me to speak of Jesus. But how can I lure the passion song of the world into your hollow reed? Could you imagine a majesty, which is too kind to be majestic? Could you conceive of a beauty too radiant to seem beautiful? Could you hear in your dreams a voice, which is shy of its own rapture?”
For the first time when I speak from the same podium in the physical absence of our beloved Divine Master, I remember these words of John. How can we lure the compassion song of the world into our hollow reeds?
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Mr. B. N. Narasimha Murthy addressing the congregation of devotees in Sai Kulwant Hall on the evening of May 6, 2011. |
The Avatar Sacrificed So That We Can Be Saved
The last chapter, apparently physically, in the life of the Sathya Sai Avatar can be rightly captioned: “Agony of the Flesh and Ecstasy of the Spirit.” There are many connotations possible for this title. The first is a poignant commentary on the powerful statement of Sri Aurobindo: “One who comes to save the world shall share its pain.”
The second is the last words of Swami which were heard in the hospital, “Nenu Haaiga Unnaanu; Naaku Etti Bhaadha Ledhu” (I am quite comfortable, happy and blissful; I have no problem of any kind).
The Master who had conquered the tyranny of the flesh was always established in eternal Divine Bliss. Though His body suffered – suffered for mankind – He had no pain of any kind. He was always established in Divine Joy and Bliss.
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It was a seemingly unending queue of common folk and the elite as Baba's body lay in state in Sai Kulwant Hall. |
The third possible connotation is: whoever felt anguish by the agony of the body of the Avatar was raised to the ecstasy of the spirit. In this short talk, it is not possible for me to recapitulate all the touching and striking incidents of this last chapter which is going to be the content of the final volume of Sathyam Shivam Sundaram, that is, Volume 8. It apparently began with a fall in Brindavan in 2003 and lasted for 8 years. I was a very close witness to what happened in Brindavan at that time and from the very same podium, directed by Swami, I spoke for more than an hour about that episode.
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The Final Chapter of Two Previous Avatars One is Sai Baba of Shirdi, our own Swami. Almost towards the end of His sojourn on earth, one of His devotees, Dhamu Anna submitted to Swami and pleaded with Him, “Baba, when You enter Maha Samadhi, I will be orphaned. What will happen to me! How will I lead my life?” Very compassionately Baba said, “Wherever you are, whatever you do, whenever you think of Me, I am always with you." He continued, "When I leave this body and go, My bones in the Samadhi will grant you succour and courage. Today I am speaking to you, tomorrow My Samadhi will speak to you and look after your Yogakshema (welfare). Don’t grieve over the physical disappearance of this body. Trust Me and think of Me always; I am always with you.” That was from the life of Shirdi Sai Baba. Let us go a little backwards, about 5000 years back into the Divine History, to the last days of Sri Krishna Avatar. Seven days before the disappearance of Dwaraka and the extinction of the Yadhava race, Lord Sri Krishna summons Uddhava and says, “Uddhava, seven days from now, all the Yadhavas including Me would have left this world.” |
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Even as Uddhava breaks down sobbing, Krishna continues, “But you have to continue as a symbol of the glory of My spiritual teachings. Another person whom you have to rescue from this holocaust is My great grandson Vajra, the son of Aniruddha, who will be the inheritor of My political idealism. Both of you leave Dwaraka tomorrow morning. And don’t ask Me questions.” But Uddhava was forlorn. He submits to Lord Krishna, “Swami, I have lived with You all my life. Please don’t go away from me. I cannot bear the separation”. Saying so, Uddhava is almost washing the feet of Sri Krishna with his tears.
Krishna is moved no doubt, but He says, “Uddhava, people call Me omnipotent (Sarva Shaktha). But one thing I am not capable of is that I can never move Myself away or separate Myself from those who love Me from the depths of their hearts. I may shed My mortal vesture, which is only one among the many, which I have worn for the redemption of the world. But I will get established in the hearts of those who love Me and talk to them every moment.”
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This is what Lord Krishna assured Uddhava and definitely the same thing is true of our Beloved Divine Master. There was a time when He had to come from Yajur Mandir, but today He is there all the time, waiting for His dear devotees to come. He is there to talk to us; He is there to grant us succour and courage; He is there to look after our welfare (Yogakshemam Vahamyaham).
The Final Journey of Sathya Sai Avatar
Let us now come to the content of the ultimate chapter: Agony of the Flesh and the Ecstasy of the Spirit. It started in Brindavan, eight years ago, with a fall that His body suffered. On July 5, 2003 when He honoured the doctors who helped Him in the hospital He revealed, “I fell so that you may rise!” Simply put, ‘I fell so that I can raise the level of Consciousness of My devotees all over the world.’ We know that every act and every word of Swami has a Divine purpose. I won’t go into the details of the eight year period.
Then He had a fall at Prashanthi Nilayam in the same year in August and after that Swami for His own reasons chose not to walk. He took upon Himself the illnesses – a series of illnesses – to save His devotees and finally the last journey was on April 24, 2011. But how did the world and mankind react to this? This has two facets.
The first concerns the modern and contemporary world represented by the Media. They focused on the temporary tinsel that surrounded the Divine personality. They could only see the buildings and the institutions, money and properties.
There was the other facet which was the glory of the Avatar which started at 6 a.m. on April 24 - the endless streams of men and women, walking a few kilometres in the hot sun, unmindful of what was happening to their bodies – just for a glimpse of their Lord! It was a wonderful scene; sitting there we could see the glory – the procession of the Glory of the Sai Avatar. They came there, stood for a while, shed a few tears, offered their last pranams and moved away.
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On the right is a view of the queue on the Gopuram road in Puttaparthi and on the left is the devotees' file in front of round blocks inside the Prasanthi Nilayam ashram - hundreds and thousands thronged to this holy hamlet between April 24 and 27, 2011 to offer their love,
gratitude and homage to their beloved Baba. |
The Kingdom That He Built
And there were many such touching scenes outside. There was a young mother catching the hand of her toddler son, taking him to the photograph of Bhagawan Baba which were put up everywhere, making him touch the feet of the Lord and saying, "Bangaru! Ithadu Bhagavanthudu." (My Golden one! this is God.) Another mother carrying another young child was showing a photograph, which was put up at a height and telling him, "Nanna, Itadu Devudu." (My dear son, He is God.) This was the real empire of our Lord, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The statement, ‘My Kingdom is not of this Earth’ was once again lost on the deaf ears of mankind with all the hue and cry and the dust raised by the Media; but here was a quiet revelation of what Baba had achieved. He had established Himself in the hearts of billions of people. That is His true achievement; not the institutions He has built; neither the mega projects of service He has undertaken. I am not belittling them. But more important, His mission was to touch the hearts and enter them and He did it successfully. If He had said at some point of time: “My work is over; I am leaving this world” He meant this - “I have established Myself in millions of hearts once and for all.” That is what Rama did; same with Lord Krishna.
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He not only preached but lived every moment of His life His message "Love All Serve All". |
Now I would like to recall two apparently disparate and disconnected incidents which have happened sixty-six years apart; they bring out a great truth about the life of the Avatar.
The first incident happened in 1944 when Swami was only 18 years old. He had no place of His own to live. Like it is said in the Bible: The Son of Man had no place to lay His head. He had no place to live of His own. So, our Bhagawan lived in the Karnam house. At least ten bullock-cart loads of people came to see Him every day and He spoke to everybody. Nobody came there and went back without having an interview from Swami or without having food, which was cooked by His ardent devotees, Subbamma and Kamalamma. One day it seems, Swami continued His interviews till 12 midnight and Kamalamma had the temerity to go and ask Swami, "Swami! Why do You toil so hard?" Swami said, “Nenu ippudu itla cheyaka unte okha kaaki kuda naa daggara raadhu! (If I don’t do this, not even a crow will come to Me now!) But you will see a day when I will always be surrounded by thousands of people. That is My real glory!") So, His mission was touching their hearts and entering their hearts. And finally the last incident on April 24, 2011, as I already said, He had already established Himself in a million hearts and more.
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Baba can be seen as a red dot in this sea of humanity that had gathered at Shimla, North India to have one glimpse of Him in April 2010. |
Today there is a quantum leap of progress in the attitude of the Media. What they are saying is Baba is great and good but people around Him are bad and ugly. Why should we not become bad and ugly if that gives acceptance to our God as their God? There is absolutely no problem about that.
But the kind of publicity that was given to Swami and His work in the last one month was unprecedented. When Swami established Super Specialty Hospitals it never hit the headlines of even one newspaper. When Swami established a University which offered free education it was not flashed in even one TV channel. Even the water projects did not attract attention. But now Swami received so much of publicity in the last one month. I am sure those who did not have the Darshan of Swami will come here today to have the Darshan of the Samadhi and we, as devotees have a great responsibility. There was a time when Swami took care of the devotees and those of us around Swami got the benefits.
But today it is time we take care of the devotees and offer comfort and solace to them, so that Swami will be pleased. Mere tribute in the form of flowers and flowery words is no more enough.
I recall here the famous statement from the book The Imitation of Christ written by Thomas Kempis: “There are many who are ready to share the heaven with Jesus; but there is nobody ready to carry the burden of His cross.”
My dear brothers and sisters, it is time we come forward to carry the burden of His cross. My only appeal to all the co-pilgrims on the Sai path – fellow devotees and followers of Sathya Sai, let us unite; we have nothing to lose but bondage to flesh.
Thank you. Sai Ram.
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